Minoan
& Mykenaean Cultures Bibliography

2000 BC to 1200 BC

copyright 1997 by Historical Novelists Center

"These are the Greek legends which relate to Crete in
her heyday, but what is one to make of them? It is not being irresponsible
or unhelpful to say that almost anything can be made of them and
that the mythologists and anthropologists in their time have done
so. One needs discipline as well as imagination and erudition
for the task." H.E.L. Mellersh

Most references on Minoans and Mykenaeans are re-hashings of
the same dozen items: the costume, the dependence on the sea,
the Goddess-worship, the bull-dancing, the earthquake problem,
the Minos-Theseus legends, Thera = Atlantis, etc. There is a distinct
limit to how much can be known about any non-historical people.
If you get a good grounding in a dozen basic books, you can invent
their culture as well as the next guy. See as many pictures of
different artifacts as you can, and make your own learned interpretations.

Special note: most sources (including the museum displays on
Santorini) date the Thera eruption to the end of the New Palace
Period in the 1400's BC. Newest archeological evidence, however,
shifts it back to about 1628 BC.

From the Silent Earth
Secker and Warburg, 1965
Puts forward the proposition that the Mykenaeans made their wealth
by hiring out as mercenaries, which can take your Mykenaean hero
a lot of places. Considering that the Norse did the same thing,
going down to Constantinople to make a fortune in the Varangian
Guard, it's certainly not impossible. T2

Ayrton, Michael

The Maze Maker
Deals with possible Minoan theology. T2

Baikie, James

The Sea-Kings of Crete ***
London, 1926
Good early thalassocracy book, fine for a novelist, if a bit
dated for a scholar. T2

Bibby, Geoffrey

The Testimony of the Spade ***
1957
Good general introduction to the ancient Eastern Mediterranean.
T1

Blegen, Carl W.

Guide to the Palace of Nestor ****
1962
Detail study of the Mykenaean ruins at Pylos. T3

The Trojans
1963

Boucher, Francois

Twenty Thousand Years of Fashion; the History
of Costume and Personal Adornment ***
Harry N. Abrams, 1966; 440 pg, index, glossary
Illustrated entirely with photos of period artwork. Has a lot
of the statuettes and frescoes. T1

Bourliere, Francois

The Land and Wildlife of Eurasia YY
Time-Life Books, Inc., NY, 1964 2nd ed. 1974
History of domestication, extinction, and migrations tells you
when fauna and flora are available to some degree. Only wish
there were more. T3

Buehr, Walter

Warrior's Weapons ****
Crowell, NY, 1963; illustrated by author
Good on early and non-ferrous metallurgy, including the development
of sickle-swords and early Mykenaean longswords with pointing
rather than tight-fist grip. Simply, pleasantly written. T2

Carpenter, Rhys

Discontinuity in Greek Civilization ***
1966
Scholarly exploration of the possible causes of the Dark Age,
therefore of the preceding culture. T2

Carpenter, Rhys, Edith Hamilton, William Hayes, et
al

Everyday Life in Ancient Times; Highlights of
the Beginnings of Western Civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt,
Greece, and Rome **
National Geographic Society, NY, 1964; 368 pg, index
Passable general reference from the late Stone Age through about
300 of the Current Era. Two illos from the Minoan/Mykenaean period,
a bit wooden; see pgs 186, 189 (Santorin), 191, 202-205. T1

Chadwick, John

Linear B and Related Script ***
Reading the Past, University of California Press/British Museum,
1987; 64 pg, index
This is all there is on Minoan writing and literature: laundry
lists. A morning spent reading this will let you refer to writing
and the signs used properly and in their places. Ariadne is not
going to sit in her window and WRITE poems to Theseus, though
she may compose some. However, Theseus will probably get ticked
off on a list of tribute when he is delivered. T1

Cottrell, Leonard

The Bull of Minos
Pan Books, London, 1955

The Lion Gate
1963
Both recommended by Mellersh. The second deals with Minoan matriarchy.
T2

Desborough, V. R. d'A.

The Last Mycenaeans and Their Successors
1964
Recommended by Mellersh. T2

Durant, Will

The Life of Greece **
The Story of Civilization, 1934
Since Durant's emphasis is on philosophy, he is kind to cover
the Cretans at all. This chapter is a good introduction if you
are unfamiliar with the Minoans, and only so far investigating
the possibility of a story. T1

Evans, Sir Arthur

The Palace of Minos ****
Macmillan, London, five volumes, 1921-1935
This is the full site report on the original Knossos excavations.
You may argue with the interpretations, but this is where you
get your raw data. Massively illustrated, with Gillerion's reconstructions.
T3

Galanopoulos, A. G. & Edward Bacon

Atlantis ****
1969
If you must believe Atlantis really existed as a mid-Atlantic
island, don't read this! It argues thoroughly and cogently against
it, saying Plato got both years and dimensions off by a factor
of ten, and places Atlantis in the Eastern Mediterranean, at
Thera/Santorin. T3

Graham, J. W.

The Palaces of Crete ***
1962
You may need more than Knossos. This covers the others. T3

Hawkes, Jacquetta

The Dawn of the Gods
1968
Hawkes generally pulls off the delicate balancing act of being
both scholarly accurate and popularly accesible. Covers Crete
as a possible matriarchy. T2

Hawes, Charles, & Harriet Boyd Hawes

Crete, the Forerunner of Greece ****
1909
Particularly valuable, as their excavations at Gournia revealed
the usual humble little huts of the peasant immemorial, rather
than concentrating on sprawling palaces. T3

Heath, Ernest Gerald

The Grey Goose Wing ***
New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, CN, 1971
Excellent history of the bow, starting very early. The Minoans
were supposed to be excellent archers, and so were many Mykenaean-derived
heroes like Herkles of Tiryns and Odysseus. T2

Higgins, C. R.

Minoan and Mycenaean Art
1967

Hogg, Ian V.

The History of Fortification ***
St. Martin's Press, NY, 1981
Clear, interesting and accurate overview from 7000 BC through
the 1970's, well illustrated with photos and diagrams; bibliography
and glossary. T1

Ingraham, Holly

People's Names: A Cross-cultural Reference Guide
to the Proper Use of Over 40,000 Personal and Familial Names
in Over 100 Cultures *****!
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, NC; 1997;
613 pgs, index, select annotated bibliography
The Historical half has the Hellenic names used by the Mykenaeans
and the late period Greek-speaking Cretans. For your Minoans,
you should make up a table and build a pick-list, using the rules
for "shadow languages" in the last section, Names Without
Languages. T1

Levi, Peter

The Greek World ****!
orig London, 1986; has been through several American publishers,
but now from Rand McNally (quick, look, has it changed?)
Excellent first part on climate, language, and the development
of Minoan and Mykenaean cultures. Very interesting artifact photos.
T1

Macqueen, J. G.

The Hittites and Their Contemporaries in Asia
Minor ***
Thames & Hudson
The Hittites were the eastern neighbors of the Trojans and Mykenaeans,
with mercantile, political and social interactions. T2

Majno, Guido, MD

The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient
World *****!
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1975
Heavy research and testing, too, to see how well period practices
actually worked. Fascinating reading. Among others, covers classic
medicine of the Ancient Near East and Egypt, from which you can
extrapolate. T1

"Thera, Key to the Riddle of Minos"
***
National Geographic, May 1972, pg 702-726
Opens with two glorious fold-out paintings, my all-time favorites
depicting Minoans. Text details the theory of the explosion of
the island volcano of Santorin/Thera as the downfall of Minoan
civilization, or at least its fatal crippling. Interesting artifacts,
notes on foods, art, beds, etc. T2

Matz, Friedrich

Crete and Early Greece
1962
Mellersh calls this, "beautifully illustrated," and
you need all the pictures you can get. T2

McEvedy, Colin

The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History ***
Penguin Books, 1967; 96 pg, index
A handy, small book, showing who rules what when, in the stretch
from Persia to the Atlantic, from prehistory to about 300 CE.
T1

Mellersh, H.E.L.

The Destruction of Knossus: the Rise and Fall
of Minoan Crete *****!
Barnes and Noble Books, 1993, originally 1970; 205 pg, index,
bibliography
Reprint of a classic work. Where other books lean on "look
at the pretty wall pictures," Mellersh points out more fascinating
evidence: the number of cooking tools, indicating a sophisticated
cuisine; traces of purple dye in vats, so that you know the colour
can be worn in the court of Minos, etc. Does not realise quite
his own depth of anti-paganism, so you will have to allow for
unconcious negativism about the religion. T1

Palmer, Leonard R.

Mycenaeans and Minoans
1965
Includes his alternative view of the Linear B development, and
the possible influx of Luvians to Crete before the Greeks in
the 15th C. BC. T2

Pellegrino, Charles

Unearthing Atlantis ***
Covers the old sites of Thera. Pellegrino is a very approachable
popular science writer.

Pendlebury, J. D. S.

The Archaeology of Crete ****
Methuen, 1939
Includes descriptions of mansions and just big houses, besides
the palaces. T3

A Handbook of the Palace of Minos at Knossos
1933
Pendlebury was Evan's successor at the Knossos excavations. These
are more detail reports. T3

Platon, Nikolas

Crete ****
1966; Archaeologia Mundi series
Mellersh describes this as "highly illustrated and also
with a good bibliography." T2

Reader's Digest

Everyday Life Through the Ages **
Reader's Digest, 1992
"Masters of the Aegean" pg 42-49 Includes a double-page
on Mykenae. Nothing to get excited about. T1

Sakellarakis, Yannis, and Efi Sapouna-Sakellaraki

"Minoan Human Sacrifice" **
National Geographic, February 1981, pg 205-224
Sensational find, pumped up by the authors. Some interesting
photos of jewelry and pottery. T3

Salmonson, Jessica Amanda

The Encyclopedia of Amazons: Women Warriors
from Antiquity to the Modern Era *****!
Paragon House, NY, 1991; 290 pg, no index, bibliography
In this period, Salmonson offers the Amazons, assorted dangerous
nymphs and Goddesses of warlike bent, not to mention the many
martial ladies of Greece, like Herakles' last wife, Deianeira.
T2

Stone, Merlin

When God Was a Woman ****
British title: The Paradise Papers
1976; 265 pgs, index, bibliography, date chart
While discussing the development of patriarchalism and patrilineal
social control of women, by reconstructing the Goddess worship
that went before and continued alongside these later religions,
Stone gives a unique insight into life and thought of the people
to whom the world had a female Creator, Lady of All, Queen of
the Universe. T2

Time-Life Books, the editors of

TimeFrame 3000-1500 BC: The Age of God-kings
***
Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987
Very pictorial, good text. The air-brushed reconstructions are
sometimes too in love with vast plain surfaces rather than trying
to give us maximum pictorial information, and the maps, while
they cover the ground, are strictly minimal.

TimeFrame 1500-600 BC: Barbarian Tides
Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987
Another wide-ranging introduction to all the world at the time,
including the Americas. Same complaints. T1

Ventris, Michael, & John Chadwick

Documents in Mycenaean Greek ****
1956
If Chadwick's handbook above is not enough, this is probably
as much depth as most can stand. T3

Warry, John

Warfare in the Classical World ****
Salamander Books, London, 1980
Excellent coverage of naval as well as land forces, including
very recent reconstructions of pentekonters, triremes, etc. Covers
Heroic and Dark Ages troops of the Greeks. T1

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Ancient World Web *****!

http://atlantic.evsc.virginia.edu/julia/AncientWorld.html

Superb linksite, which it would be silly to try and duplicate
here. Especially fine for including Asian, American, and African
sections, not just Europe and the Near East.

A thorough-going linksite maintained by the University of California
at Riverside, H-GIG sorts by area, by era (ancient<yours>,
Medieval, early Modern, Modern, and 20th C), or by topic (military,
women, etc.). It's a good place to start a hunt for books and
essays online.